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Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

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These Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats are my new favorite breakfast! I combine dried cherries, walnuts, and brown sugar to make the most delicious oatmeal topping ever! Perfect for breastfeeding Mommas + busy families who love make ahead breakfast options.

Instant Pot Oatmeal


Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

I mentioned in my 50 Words of Advice for New Moms post that I got an Instant Pot at my baby shower! When you have 5 kids, making a baby registry is hard. Since we have all of the essentials, we decided to throw some most wanted kitchen items on our Amazon Baby Registry, and Hello! I’m the new owner of an Instant Pot thanks to my Mother-in-law. 🙂

I have to say, EVERY new Momma needs an Instant Pot! When we brought our sweet Felicity home, it was a lifesaver. Breastfeeding cravings are a real thing, and I’m pretty sure I ate steel cut oats more then once a day for a couple of weeks. I always used the same vanilla + cherry + walnut + brown sugar topping combo and it never got old.

Preparing the steel cut oats in the Instant Pot is a breeze! The Instant Pot makes the perfect oats, and all you have to do is throw the ingredients in and turn it on. Any new Momma can relate that extra time is nonexistent, so I found myself searching for make ahead options that I could heat up during the day when I needed a snack or a meal. These steel cut oats were perfect for just that!

Cherry Vanilla Steel Cut Oatmeal Recipe

Tips for Making Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

  • SAFETY first! Please read through your entire Instant Pot manual if you are not familiar with using the Instant pot.
  • I would not stray from the ratios provided. I’ve tested this once or twice when I came up short on the oats and honestly it just wasn’t the same! 2 cups of steel cut oats to 5 cups of water makes the perfect oatmeal. It is not too dry, but not runny either.
  • I stuck with using 1/4 cup of brown sugar as I didn’t want my oatmeal to be super sweet. If you like your oatmeal on the sweeter side I would suggest 1/2 cup of brown sugar.
  • For the best results, you will want to allow your Instant Pot to cool for a minimum of 20 minutes. This will release the pressure from the pot naturally (as opposed to opening the pressure valve), and you should see the little round stainless steel pressure meter come up fully. Your Instant Pot will start a timer as soon as your cooking time is over so you will know when it has been the full 20 minutes. If you do open your pot sooner, your steel cut oats might stick to the bottom. To prevent sticking even more you can coat the bottom of your pot with butter or coconut oil. FYI, I do not coat mine with anything and I haven’t had sticking when I followed this 100%.
  • A pat of butter on the top of your warm bowl of steel cut oats + dried cherries + walnuts + brown sugar or maple syrup is LIFE.

Cherry Vanilla Steel Cut Oatmeal

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Steel Cut Oatmeal Recipe

Cherry Vanilla Steel Cut oatmeal

Crock Pot Beef Tips and Gravy

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This Crock Pot Beef Tips and Gravy Recipe combines just a few simple ingredients for a delicious, hearty dinner. Tender pieces of sirloin in a thick mushroom and gravy sauce come together for the best comfort food around! Serve over homemade mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice.

Crock Pot Beef Tips and Gravy Recipe

Welcome back to another episode of my life is a circus and I don’t really have time to cook! My name is Dana, I’ll be your host! Today we are making Crock Pot Beef Tips and Gravy for your whole family to enjoy. :)d


My circus has been wanting really simple food lately. Mix too many things together and there is a good chance 3 out of the 4 who eat food (baby is still doing the boob thing) won’t be interested in dinner. It might “look weird” or maybe it has “something green on it.” Whatever the case, I’ve started really simplifying not only my meals, but my shopping list as well.

I thought to myself for a hot second that there was no way I could post this Crock Pot Beef Tips and Gravy recipe. People would think it was stupid because it is only a couple of ingredients. What if… gasp… I used a Simply Organic brown gravy packet instead of making an elaborate sauce myself and spending $25 to gather the ingredients for the sauce? Then I remembered there are other Moms out there just like me who have a million things to do and just need a semi-healthy and very delicious dinner to put on the table tonight. Enter… Crock Pot Beef Tips and Gravy.

Crock Pot Beef Tips and Gravy Recipe

The Mashed Potatoes

Now that we have cleared up the fact that I indeed to have picky eaters and I am also the ring leader of a tiny circus of humans who have been refusing to eat lately, it might be time to talk mashed potatoes. Listen, let’s just be honest here. If the mashed potatoes aren’t good, the whole meal just isn’t as good. Mashed potatoes are the glue of a dinner and I’ve figured out how to make a pretty darn good potato.

I always make homemade mashed potatoes and I have a big secret. Many people have commented on my recipe wondering what I was doing different and how I delivered the best mashed potatoes ever. This will have its very own post one day soon but for now let’s just talk about why my mashed potatoes are better then 99% of the rest. I use cream cheese.

That’s right, cream cheese right in the mixer with the potatoes, butter, milk, and salt. With the whisk attachment, not the paddle. If you aren’t mashing your potatoes with a stand mixer, now is a great time to finally grab that mixer you have been stalking on Amazon. So here you go…

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I’ve had my KitchenAid Artisan 5 qt mixer for a long time now, and it has been super helpful with everyday recipes like mashed potatoes. It is definitely a kitchen appliance staple in my house!

If you aren’t feeling the mashed potatoes, this recipe would be awesome over rice or egg noodles as well.

Beef Tips and Gravy Recipe

Beef Tips and Gravy Recipe

Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie Recipe

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*This Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie Recipe may contain affiliate links. If you click these links and make a purchase, PLA will receive a commission for referring you. This enables me to keep the blog going strong. 🙂
Breakfast smoothie recipe

Umm Hi, Hello. Brand new VITAMIX owner right here you guys! I am super excited to share this Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie Recipe post with you today because I just mixed this baby up in my brand new blender. When you get this excited about a kitchen appliance, you might be 30 something.


Can I just admit that I’ve been hardcore stalking this blender on Amazon since Christmas of 2017. Hardcore stalking like re-checking the price just to make sure it didn’t go down on a weekly basis. It may have even appeared on my Amazon Baby Registry. That’s right, I have all the baby things so when my Mom asked me to create a registry for baby number 5 I decided a blender would be totally appropriate. Spoiler alert: I didn’t get the blender at my baby shower!

On Prime Day 2018 I just so happened to do a quick search and found out OMG IT’S ON SALE.

Then 2 days later it arrived because Amazon does magical things like this. My husband directly said it was not in the budget for me to get this blender so I was thinking of ways to make it appear without being super over dramatic about it. Should I hide it in a closet or pretend my Mom bought it for me? How does one slip a blender past their husband?

Blueberry breakfast smoothie

Turns out the delivery guy had different plans because he placed my new blender right on the front porch 5 minutes before my husband got home from work. It was hiding at the front door in a huge box that said Vitamix on the outside. My husband came in and didn’t mention the blender at all. When I peered outside and saw the huge box I started laughing and he immediately said he saw my blender on the porch. Then I had to explain to him that when things are on sale, we buy the things. We don’t wait on buying the things because then Prime Day is over and we still want the things and will continue stalking them until they arrive at our door in a big Vitamix box. Moral of the story, just buy the Vitamix!

Breakfast Smoothie Recipe

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Initial Vitamix Thoughts

I will be doing a full Vitamix review quite soon, however my initial thoughts on the Vitamix is that it does live up to the hype! This Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie Recipe was so smooth I had to add ice to my next one just to make it a little thicker. I prefer to use frozen blueberries because they are easy, and it was no problem at all for the Vitamix. Ice was also easily blended. I was previously using a Ninja Master Prep for all my blending needs and the Vitamix is definitely lightyears ahead of my old blender. My smoothies are super smooth, almost like juice if I don’t add ice. I am testing different blends, specifically a kale blend to see what the best ratios are for getting greens super smooth. Stay tuned for that! 🙂

Homestyle London Broil

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I used to get all kinds of annoyed when my husband would bring home a piece of meat from the grocery store labeled “London Broil.”

What. Do. I. Do. With. This. Thing. I went to pastry arts school, remember?


So I took a few different approaches as any aspiring chef wife would. I think it went something like marinating, grilling, ovening.  Marinating it to death for 24 hours just praying this thing doesn’t die on me. Praying a second time that my husband stops buying these things because.. why!?!?! Just get a cut of meat I know what to do with already! Are there not a dozen other choices there?

Then, after the first epic fail, the unthinkable happens. My husband comes home with not one, but two London Broils. In my head I’m thinking, didn’t we realize we don’t like these things the first time? This time I thought maybe I would just put it in a crock pot and see what happens. What could really go wrong in a crock pot? Could it die again in there? Could I burn the house down? Will he stop this nonsense already and just bring home a chicken breast next time?

The moment of truth came at a friends house, because I had a photo shoot in the morning and was running so low on time that I threw the two London Broils in a crock pot with roast seasoning and carrots and hoped for the best. We showed up and I warned everyone I had no idea what was going to happen when I took the lid off of this thing. Everyone assured me that it would be fine, they would love me even if this was harder then a brick. My husband sliced a piece and to my surprise it was good!

Most recently, I got really brave and actually purchased one BY MYSELF at the grocery store. Literally I went to Giant and went directly to the meat section without passing go and picked myself up a brand new and shiny London Broil that I was going to go home and turn into a delicious dinner.

Seriously, who am I anymore!?!?!

When I Figured Out This Whole London Broil Thing

What I realized was that a London Broil was very similar to the cuts of meat they label as roasts or rump roasts. I noticed them to be a bit leaner, with a lot less marbling throughout and less fat on the outside as well. What I also noticed was that they are priced HALF THE PRICE of the roast cuts. Maybe my husband was on to something here?!?! They are almost always on sale. The London Broil I purchased was $7.00 and it was almost 3 lbs of meat. So winning when you have 4 kids!

I used my dutch oven that regularly collects dust inside my cabinet to make my Homestyle London Broil because I have a wonderful double burner on my gigantic stove so I figured, why not? It turned out to be the perfect way to cook my Homestyle London Broil because I was able to start it on the stove, browning both sides as well as my onions. Then slow cook it in the oven for a few hours, and to finish pop it right back on my double burner to make a delicious gravy out of the broth. I need to use this method more often because it was super easy!

Recipe Tips

I always say this when preparing meats but if you don’t have any course kosher salt in your life you need to get you some! It can take a just fine meal and make it so much better! I generously seasoned my London Broil with a mix of course kosher salt, cracked black pepper, onion salt, and granulated garlic. It is THAT EASY. Generously is the key word, do not be afraid to semi-coat your meat in the spices, just make sure you don’t over-do the onion salt due to the fact that you are using course kosher salt and beef stock as well.

All of those little bits and pieces and lovely brown color you get when cooking your onions is what I call flavor building. You can’t flavor build like this in a crock pot, that is why I didn’t just throw my ingredients in one. I would say you could totally use this recipe in a crock pot but the best way to do it would be exactly how the recipe says.

I just used a fork to pull apart my meat and it fell apart so easily. When making the gravy, I did not remove the meat. The stirring around helped pull apart the meat as well.

I did season to taste after everything was finished with just a pinch more salt and pepper. As with any recipe, if you feel it may be a tad bland, season to your own taste!

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Sunrise Protein Smoothie

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Hello and welcome back! I’m posting this Sunrise Protein Smoothie today to let everyone know I’m actually alive and well and still creating delicious recipes for my family. 🙂


So where have I been? You know, to sum it up I’ve been super busy with my family. We have four little boys to take care of and since the baby was born last September I feel like I’m in survival mode everyday. I also have a relatively new photography business that is taking up quite a bit of my time. If you are in the Central Pennsylvania area go ahead and check me out!  www.danacarvellphotography.com 

My business is specializing in newborn and family photography and things have taken off to the point where I feel like I’m ignoring my first baby, my 3boys blog! I got a swift kick in the rear when I realized that I still get thousands of hits a day and I’m so missing my foodie community. It almost was like a big wake up call:

“Hello Dana! There are thousands of people reading your recipes everyday! You are killing in in stats, where are you!?!?”

It kind of just dropped on my lap, honestly. So here I am! I not only love doing this, it is like a breath of fresh air!

So i’ve decided to try to dedicate a little time each week to still posting and doing something that I ultimately love to do. I’ve had such a positive experience here and I love it! And of course, by the way, since upgrading my camera, and getting A TON of experience in taking pictures of people I’ve also grown so much in my food photography. Gone are the days of super over exposed images. 🙂 I also really love taking pictures of food because hello! Food does not move! Most of the time I’m chasing around toddlers. Don’t get me wrong, I love a challenge, but a subject that is motionless once in a while is so fun!

As I mentioned since our 4th boy was born last year I’ve been in survival mode. Little by little we are getting back to our own “normal” but it has taken quite some time. Just because our baby is 16 months old doesn’t mean things have gotten a whole lot easier, just different. More of chasing mom around the house begging to be carried around all day so that mom can literally do nothing, including cook for the rest of the family! haha In order to get healthy, whole foods into my own body I have resorted to a lot of smoothie recipes because… again…survival mode ya’ll!

I hesitated to post this Sunrise Protein Smoothie recipe because it seems so simple. At the same time I thought, why not!?!? This is real, this is what I’m eating, and I should share it. It doesn’t have to be super elaborate for readers to find it helpful. So here it is! 🙂

How to Choose the Best Protein Powder

This is one thing that made me hesitate to post this Sunrise Smoothie Recipe because I don’t want folks to pick a protein powder that contains a ton of unhealthy ingredients. In the back of my mind I’m saying:

“I’ve seen some really bad ones. Will someone choose that?”

So here. I’m telling you straight. Read the ingredient list. Look in the “naturals” section, and choose wisely. Choose organic if you can, try to find the shortest list of ingredients, and stay away from soy. I’ve actually seen partially hydrogenated oils in GNC’s protein powders, as well as a bunch of others. Like really GNC!?!?! How dare you throw horrible ingredients into a powder that is marketed to people trying to be healthy. These are the things that just simply anger me because it is necessary and dangerous. I love Food Babe and she has a list here that will help you choose. While mine is not on her list, I would still highly suggest all Vega products as they taste great and have worked very well for me!

I use Vega protein powders that are the best I’ve found. Yes, they are vegan. No I’m not following a Vegan diet. However their ingredients check out and I will be eating non-vegan foods the rest of the day so it is a nice change.

Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

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*This Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili is a fall favorite that is packed with nutrition and so delicious! With fall right around the corner you need this in your life! Throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker, and have a fantastic dinner waiting for you at the end of the day. P.S. It’s also a great way to hide extra nutrition in chili for kids who are skeptical of sweet potatoes! 
Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

I’m just going to come right out and say this….. I put sweet potatoes in chili way before it was cool on Pinterest. Like, years ago! I didn’t do it on purpose the first time, it went down like this:


I bought the expensive pre-cubed butternut squash at the grocery store and I never used it. My husband nagged me about it until one day I was like FINE I’LL PUT IT IN THE CHILI now shut up about me buying random stuff at the grocery store and let’s move on (the man has a point here though I must admit).  So I threw the squash in my regular chili recipe and it was fantastic! How exciting it was when he arrived home after work and I had a new creation to share that made me look like a culinary genius. 🙂 Sweet and spicy for the win!

After the squash I gave sweet potatoes a go because we always have them on hand for making the kids sweet potato fries. I actually loved sweet potatoes even more, and the rest was history! That is until the Pinterest Pinnies were all like:

“Sweet potatoes in everything, all day everyday!”

“Sweet potatoes on fleek!” (still have no idea what that one means)

“Sweet potatoes all up in my chili!”

“Put sweet potatoes in your chili because it is cool now!”

You get the point. Everyone else figured out it was a rockin’ combo and then all of a sudden I was just a  regular person again.  *sigh*

Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

Back before my culinary genius bubble burst I was actually using a stovetop chili recipe, however for my birthday last year my I received a brand new slow cooker from my mom! If you have followed other slow cooker recipes here, you might remember I had an ancient slow cooker that my mom was gifted for her bridal shower in the 80’s. No clue who bought that for her or why they thought she would ever use it (girl doesn’t cook) but it got me through a few babies and my first apartment. Shout out to the random relative who made that purchase and RIP awful baby poop colored slow cooker! With my shiny new slow cooker I realized how much tastier chili was in the slow cooker vs. on the stove top and I don’t think I will be looking back anytime soon! Shiny new slow cooker for another win!

Recipe Tips

  • I cut my sweet potatoes in small cubes (pictured below), however when the chili was done they were pretty well cooked. So much so that they disappeared into the chili a bit. I found this really awesome, however if you are looking for a chunkier finish I would cut them a tad bigger then what is pictured below.
  • I added 2 jalapeños and it was bit spicy for us. The spiciness was muted in the leftovers though and that is when it was just right! If you are not into spiciness at all, of course just omit the jalapeño all together.
  • As mentioned above, this chili gets better and better everyday in leftovers! It is a great meal to make at the beginning of the week to have a healthy lunch for the next few days.
  • I tend to keep chili simple because a speech professor once told me the acronym K.I.S.S. or keep it simple stupid! This sticks to me with chili because when folks are looking for good chili recipes they don’t want to have to go to the grocery store and buy ingredients that they will use 1 tablespoon of and never see again because it is so far back in the pantry.
  • I have found (thanks to the back of a Goya bean can) that 2 Tablespoons of cumin, 2 Tablespoons of chili powder, and 2 teaspoons of adobo seasoning are the PERFECT spice combo for chili. This is my go-to amount of spices and it has never failed me. You can certainly play around with it but that combo will give you just enough flavor without being overpowering.

Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

Then we have this close up shot that is so detailed you can literally see that I cut the avocado with a butter knife. Sheesh that expensive macro lens was worth it!

Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

And then there was this cutie…. 🙂 Hi Sammy!

Sammy eats Turkey Chili

Slow Cooker Turkey Sweet Potato Chili || www.3boysunprocessed.com

Blueberry Crumble Bars

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Blueberry Crumble Bars

What I love about these Blueberry Crumble Bars:

  • The color
  • They could be breakfast
  • They could also be dessert
  • They are 100% whole grain (whole wheat flour + rolled oats)
  • They just happen to be the perfect little lunchbox treat
  • You can totally dress them up by cutting them a bit smaller and serving them in a fancy cupcake liner
  • Blueberries just happen to be in season right now and are super cheap 🙂

Blueberry Crumble Bars


As far as baked blueberry items go, these are a favorite of mine by a landslide!  I used the same crumble dough last year with my Fresh and Easy Peach Preserves inside and I must say, the blueberry bars win! It might have been the fact that I used more filling but it also might be that I really dig the perfectly sweet/tart blueberries + cinnamon + big clumps of brown sugary dough. Who wouldn’t totally fall in love with these? Oh that’s right… my children. You know, the kids who will eat blueberries frozen or fresh but will not touch a Blueberry Crumble Bar?? Yeah. Them. Seriously.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Speaking of kids, I’m about to have another one very soon! If you’ve been wondering where the heck I’ve been let me just put it to you like this…. I’m huge. Massive. Pregnant as ever. And cooking as of late has been a little hectic. Heck… everything has been a little hectic. The other day I even Googled the phrase “Pregnant belly got hot while cooking” because opps, it was pressed up against the stove and it didn’t even cross my mind that maybe that was a bad thing until I was already done. Dr. Google told me that the amniotic fluid around the baby is temperature regulated and I should have no fear. Whew! Thank you amniotic fluid for saving me on that Mommy fail moment! What would I do without Dr. Google?

Notes About the Recipe

  • These bars are not overly, sickeningly sweet. Every. Single. Time. I eat a store bought fruit bar I end up with a stomach ache. Not the case here!
  • Do NOT… I recipe.. Do NOT try to cut the bars right out of the oven or you might end up with a purple colored disaster! I let the bars cool for a good 45 minutes-1 hour before even looking their way or thinking about cutting them. I know, it is tempting, but don’t do it! 🙂
  • Parchment paper is also a must here. I know, I hate it too because it always wants to roll up but press that parchment paper down and make it work!
  • The dough is a great base for various fruits. If you get creative and decide to try another variety, give me the deets in the comments. I’d love to hear what you did!
  • Recipe inspiration from Whole Grain Fruit Filled Bars, right out of the Weelicious Lunches cookbook by Catherine McCord of Weelicious. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

Fresh Strawberry Limeade

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With summer in full swing I am really hot and pregnant here in Pennsylvania! The humidity this week is the kind that smacks you right in the face as soon as you step outside. All of my Floridians are rolling their eyes right now but seriously… the heat!!


Dear Humidity,

You can go away any time now.

Sincerely,

The lady that looks like she is ready to pop but is only 26 weeks along. *sigh*

I guess I should start preparing myself for the “Is it twins?” question that is surely coming my way very soon. FYI men, women, and children alike…. don’t ask a pregnant lady if she’s having twins. I get it, I’m large and in charge, I don’t need a reminder. I know, you are curious. I am curious about lots of things too! Mainly why people don’t have sensors. Can you tell the heat is taking a toll on my patience? Thankfully I have a place to vent. 🙂

You could also probably refrain from asking a pregnant lady what kind of delivery she is having. Yes, a young woman asked me that this week while I was on vacation. Ummm…the kind where painful contractions start until I decided I can’t take anymore… get an epidural… then wait to push the baby out of the birth canal and get sewn back together?? Is that the answer you were looking for?? Ok, I’m done complaining about the joys of being with child.. let’s move on, shall we?

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Like I said, I need some refreshment over here in the form of something that doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and a bunch of artificial colors and flavors. So naturally, I stirred up my own pitcher of Strawberry Limeade and *Ta-Da* the preggo is happy again. Indoors. With air conditioning. And no humidity. Enjoying my fresh, cool, non-alcoholic or caffeinated drinky. So much fun, so little time to create this magical concoction. 🙂

So the recipe itself is super easy! Sugar, water, berries, lime… heat… add water. Done! After enjoying this Strawberry Limeade you will be wondering why people drink that bottled stuff to begin with. You can definitely taste the difference between fresh, real berries and artificial strawberry flavorings. There is no comparison either, fresh strawberries all the way!

 

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos

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Crock Pot Pork Tacos

Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner and these slow cooker pork tacos are the EASIEST Cinco meal ever! Ok, ok, maybe guacamole is easier but who is really keeping tabs?


Let’s dive right into talking about the recipe, shall we? For being a slow cooker meal I kind of have a lot to say about it!

First, I’ve brought this taco meat to a few gatherings and people have always enjoyed it. This is a great meal for transporting and I’ve even served it with tortilla chips just to keep things simple. I love being able to transport meals that I know won’t somehow end up all over my car or something terrible like that (think soups!). Crockpot = Safe transporting! Plus once I arrive I know I will have a way to keep things toasty until serving.

Second, I love putting a bunch of fresh toppings on tacos like these to boost the nutritional value and make them even yummier! For these tacos I used fresh cilantro, tomato, and avocado. I also added shredded Colby jack cheese and sour cream. So basically I stuffed the heck out of the shell and called it a day. 🙂

And last but not least this taco meat is soooo a “second day meal.” You know, something that sits in the refrigerator overnight and magically tastes even better then it did the day before? Yeah, totally these tacos. If you decide to make this for an event, or  just for your family, I would highly suggest allowing the meat to soak up all the saucy goodness overnight. I’m not saying it isn’t good straight up the first day but so much more flavor develops overnight. With the ease of the recipe I find it super convenient to make the day before so the next day I can think “Dinner is already done. Yess! No dishes, no cleanup.” Love those days!

Crock Pot Pork Tacos

 

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Slow Cooker Pork Tacos

One Pot Italian Pasta

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One Pot Italian Pasta


Once upon a time I asked my husband for a Dutch Oven for Christmas. Do I need ONE more pot? Probably not. But I couldn’t resist the thought of cooking up a delicious roast in the oven with a pretty colored, straight-out-of-a-magazine looking Dutch Oven. However, instead of getting the Dutch Oven I got a….wait for it…. a cheese shredder and a dish drying rack from Walmart!*insert sarcastically excited emoji here* The best part about this is we never go to Walmart. Like ever. Everything about that place irks both of us, so how he ended up there shopping for me for Christmas is beyond me. *insert confused emoji here*

Ok, so he tried. I’ll give him that. Heck, he even braved the busted carts and weird people at Walmart! But really? A dish drying rack for Christmas? Ok, so long story short I ended up with a beautiful, photo-worthy Dutch Oven anyway, thanks to a gift card from my Grandmother and my heckling skills at Boscov’s. I used it today for this One Pot Italian Pasta and it was just glorious! Husband officially forgiven for his random Walmart presents! 🙂

As I was putting this One Pot wonder together today I just couldn’t help but marvel at the deliciousness that was about to happen + wholesome, healthy ingredients! This beautiful pot includes:

  • 100% whole wheat linguini
  • mushrooms
  • cherry tomatoes
  • strained tomatoes
  • spinach
  • fresh basil

Big plus: This recipe is completely customizable! Don’t have spinach? No problem. Hate cherry tomatoes. Leave them out! Want to sub something else? Give it a try! Want to force more greens on your family? Double the spinach. Is there anything this pot can’t do?

One Pot Italian Pasta

……And then that huge picture happened. 🙂

Cooking Tips and Techniques (Full recipe below)

    • Biggest tip: Must stir pot while pasta is cooking! I’ve made a few one potters before and didn’t need to stir as much as I did with this one. Not sure what was making things stick, but I was stirring frequently. It is worth it though!
    • This recipe makes a fairly large batch. If you are cooking for a family this should be enough for 4+ people with leftovers. If you are cooking for just 1-2 people I’d suggest halving the recipe.
    • Beef, mushrooms, and garlic are browned first then everything else is added.
    • I use Bionaturae strained tomatoes because they come in glass jars. If you can’t find this product I would suggest subbing a 15 ounce can of whole tomatoes in juice and crushing them before adding them to your pot with juice included.
    • Depending upon what stock/tomatoes you use (I used no salt added tomatoes and low sodium homemade stock) you may need to adjust your salt. I would suggest starting with 1/4 tsp and adding more as you go if you are using any products that are salted. I used about 3/4 tsp of kosher salt, but like I said I was starting with a pretty bland base.
    • And that’s all folks!

*Here is a link to the tomato product I use. Price is based upon bulk quantity.

One Pot Italian Pasta. Everything you love about beef, linguini, and tomatoes with a hint of creamy. A dinner the whole family will love! || www.3boysunprocessed.com

 

One Pot Chilli Mac

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Comfort food in the best way possible, Chilli Mac!


I know, I know, where have I been? Well, you see there’s this thing called *my oven is like a million years old* and I burnt the skin of a chicken that was supposed to be another post last week. Then there was also this thing called *the lighting in my photo-taking room sucked* and the beautiful reindeer cupcakes I made were basically poo-poo in pictures. And Rudolf even had a shiny nose! 🙁

Speaking of my old oven… that thing! I could seriously just take it outside and have a grand ol’ time with it + a baseball bat. You know your oven is THE WORST when you actually have to Google how to move the racks. I wish I was kidding, but no. I Googled how to move the racks in my oven. *Face Palm* Apparently in the 70’s (I’m guessing) somebody who probably never used an oven decided the best way to move a rack would be to lift it from the very back of the oven. Yeah, totally would of never considered trying that. Just another joyful aspect of apartment living!

But then today… This Chilli Mac happened. And my lighting was nice. And I wasn’t Googling how to use my ancient oven. And there was copious amounts of cheese and greens to throw around to make everyone pretty. I mean really, does it get any better? Comfort food + Happy blogger and boys = Yay!!!!

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There is one thing in this recipe that I haven’t talked about lately on 3Boys and that is ketchup. I highly recommend seeking a brand that doesn’t use high fructose corn syrup in their product. Not only is it GMO, it isn’t good for us and the brands using it in their products basically just suck. BOO to them! Don’t buy their crap! Ok, I’m done. 🙂

Now that I got that vent off my chest let’s dive head first into a big bowl of Chilli Mac, shall we? This recipe combines the goodness of hamburger, whole wheat elbow macaroni, sharp cheddar cheese, tons of spices, ketchup, mustard and sour cream into a big, delicious hot mess. This hot mess will make you want to burn the roof of your mouth right off because you can’t wait just 1 minute for it to cool down. I know, I do it every time too. Basically take everything you have in your pantry, dump it into one big hot mess, and enjoy! Chilli Mac it is!

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*Don’t forget your greens! I served this with a big ol’ spinach and kale salad and some frozen mango!

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#betterbaking Whole Wheat Caramel Blondies

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That’s a big blondie, isn’t it? A big, rich, caramel-y blondie that is all whole wheat!


Is it just me or are people totally scurred of committing to using all whole wheat flour in recipes? I can’t even count the amount of times I have been foodgawking and thought to myself “cool no refined grains!” only to click on the recipe and realize it isn’t  a whole wheat recipe because it contains 1/2 refined flour. What gives people, what gives!?!?!

Not only that, why label a recipe whole wheat if in fact, it isn’t? Maybe I’m missing something there. 🙂

Fear not though, because here at 3Boys we don’t play those games. All of our recipes are 100% whole wheat, and #betterbaking is taking the internet by storm! Ok, maybe the second part of that was kind of a long shot but people really seem to be interested in baking recipes using better ingredients, so I am here to give you more options and better recipes.

Whole wheat recipes don’t have to be bland, boring, and standard. They don’t have to be limited to just one version of a classic, the possibilities are endless. You don’t have to worry about trying something in whole wheat form and it turning out horrible, and I get to take pictures of pretty desserts that make me happy. Sounds like a  win-win situation, doesn’t it? Even my husband thinks it is genius because he gets to taste all of my creations! After all, I have to put that Pastry Arts degree to use somehow, don’t I?

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Now that ^^^^ is a caramel blondie! With this recipe I’m really tackling those boxed mixes with the little pouch of gooey caramel intact to drizzle right over those trans fat laden boxed brownies. I know, I know, I’m sorry I just can’t help myself! I have to get all health-freak up in here and talk about the nastyt ingredients in boxed mixes so people understand those mixes are not frowned upon simply because they are supposedly quicker (which I highly debate). They are frowned upon because they contain trans fats, preservatives, and a bunch of other crap. But aren’t brownies just flour, cocoa powder, and leavening agents anyway? Please, someone, anyone…. tell me how this makes ANY sense!

I got to wondering what else Ghiradelli was throwing into those gooey caramel packets and it was just the icing on top of the nasty ingredient cake! It was ugly folks, really ugly. Corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, and preservatives. Just a few little extras, right?

Ok, I promise I’m off the trans fats are bad train and we are now going back to our regularly scheduled programming! 🙂

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These blondies sound complicated but I promise they are not! Putting together the caramel from scratch could NOT be easier. A few simple ingredients, 5 minutes, and a stovetop is all you need. After you do it once you’ll be wondering why you ever thought caramel was complicated. Not to mention, the FLAVOR from real caramel is totally different and so much better then those plastic wrapped chunks of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Come to the real caramel dark side, I promise we have more fun here! 🙂

For more #betterbaking recipes check out these posts!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Cupcakes

PB and Apple Muffins

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Fudgy Trip Chocolate Cupcakes

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*Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Popper Mac

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Ever want to just throw your hand up in the air and say “I GIVE UP!!!”


That was me, this week. All week it has been raining here. Rain, rain, more rain. No sun, none. Not even a little. Now if you know anything about taking pictures of food you might know that natural light = better pictures. I can’t take pictures of food with a flash, or a light in a room. It HAS to be natural. Hence, my frustration when the sun decided to go away for the past 4 days. Somehow, it peeked out just for a minute for me to snap these pictures. Now it’s gone again and I’m back to wondering if I’ll be able to take any pictures tomorrow, or if the sun will be hiding again. Please come back sun!! 🙂

Remember when I confessed that throughout my life I’ve kind of had an obsession with all foods that involve hot sauce? If you haven’t seen my Buffalo Chicken with Creamy Ranch Slaw post, I explain it there! I’m pretty sure I lived on hot sauce dumped on everything for a good portion of my teenage years. I can’t for the life of me figure out why, but for some reason it was the cool thing to do! Then again, teenagers are really awkward and they do lots of weird, unexplainable things.

On to this wonderful crockpot creation, because seriously I can’t be the only person who still loves a bit of nostalgia sometimes! It brings me back to those high school pizza shop days, in a creamy and delicious way. Something about the cream cheese, the hot sauce, and the jalapenos make this sooooo good I just can’t stop.

I should also mention that when it comes to hot sauce, I always check ingredients! I’ve found some brands like to sneak in Polysorbate 80. Even Frank’s includes that in their wing sauce version, but not their original hot sauce. Figure that one out?!?! I stick to the basic stuff to eliminate the unnecessary ingredients, and I’ve always liked Frank’s original the most anyway!

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The jalapenos in this creamy/spicy madness are completely optional. The first time I made it I used 2, the second time I used 3. Both times had just a bit of spice. Actually, the perfect amount for a family. My kids ate it, and so did my husband and I and nobody complained of too much spiciness. My toddler is notorious for saying “This is too spicy” about foods that have absolutely NO spice in them, and he ate this with no issues. If you really want to bump this baby up, use 1/2 cup of hot sauce instead of 1/4 cup.

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Healthy Loaded Nacho Skillet

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It is officially Football season and the first day of Fall! Yay* for pumpkin everything and tailgating. A bigger *yay* for pumpkin spiced lattes from my good ol’ Nespresso and cold brewed coffee with my very own Pumpkin Spiced Coffee Syrup. Ok, ok we are getting all coffee snob up in herrr so let’s move on to nachos because who doesn’t love some gooey melted cheese, spicy black beans, corn chips, sweet corn off the cob, rice, veggies, and even more gooey melted cheese. And not the fake stuff folks because we don’t get down with Velveeta like that!


That’s right.. nachos do not have to contain Velveeta because cheese is WAY TOO GOOD on it’s own to add a bunch of crap that makes it look like plastic when in cools. You pickin’ up what I’m puttin’ down? Thank You, Thank You, I knew you would understand!

Now let’s forget about that crap and get back to the good stuff because these nachos are the perfect balance of all the cheesy goodness you would expect from nachos, and a bunch of other goodies that are whole and nutritious. Sweet bell peppers, a big bed of lettuce, brown rice, black beans, oh yeah! Loaded nachos say whhhhhaaatttt?

Ok, ok I’m calming myself down but this is something to get excited about. One of my all time favorite snack foods, in a skillet, with nutrition on top?

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Now that my rambling nacho madness is over the voice of reason is here to tell you what exactly this Loaded Nacho Skillet is PLUS the fact that it only takes 30 short minutes to put this bad boy together. Cook the rice, add the beans, the cheese, the frozen corn, the chips, more cheese, the peppers, more cheese, and finally broil it for a few minutes until everyone is happy. Got it? Since that way A LOT of steps here is a pretty picture for you to see exactly how to achieve this nacho goodness:

 

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Now if you really want to take these nachos totally over the top try adding a dollop of my Homemade Ranch right in the middle of a big pile of nacho goodness. These two things are basically a match made in food heaven and I would not tell you to do another step if I didn’t think this ranch was basically the best thing that ever happened to these nachos. Nachos meet ranch. Ranch meet nachos. And they lived happily ever after all up in my tummy!

*I used my Taco Night Freezer Corn in this recipe as well!

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup

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I saw an orange leaf on a tree. I did, I swear!  It was there. I promise. Not that I think I’m jumping the gun on this one or anything, because let’s face it September = Fall. I even got a fall pamphlet from Bath and Body Works in the mail which reminded me of all the wonderful fall smells, like freshly baked apple pie and pumpkin cream cheese quick bread. I can’t wait to begin baking fall goodies but before anything exceptional happens I need my coffee. And just in case you didn’t know, I take my coffee very seriously!


Fall just isn’t fall without Pumpkin Spice coffee and lattes aka happiness in a Cup-O-Joe! I love me some cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg but hate me some nasty ingredients used by many popular companies who produce Pumpkin Spice things…. like Coffee Mate, and that other really popular company that I’m never calling out because I kind of like them. You know who I’m talking about, right? Right. I knew you would!

That company, you know, the one I’m not calling out… they use high fructose corn syrup and caramel coloring in their Pumpkin Spice drinks and I’m not too fond of that. As much as it pains me, I won’t be partaking in their festive drinks because I have will power (ok sort of) so I’m making my own coffee syrup to enjoy in my delicious coffees (cold brewed preferred!) and guess what? There is no nastiness in my version, and  it is made with just a few pantry staples. I feel like I just won the Pumpkin Spice lottery or something! I kind of did though, let’s be honest!

As for Coffee Mate and the like, I CAN’T EVEN. Those non-dairy creamer companies deserve to go out of business today for using the horrible ingredients they use, mainly partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil. Can someone say the WORST product on earth? I mean seriously, the only reason to make a product like that is just to kill people, but I’m no conspiracy theorist so I’ll leave it at that. Just please, do your health a favor and stay away from that crap!

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When I realized just how easy it was to make my own Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup I kind of cried on the inside about all of the money I have spent at that place that I kind of like. At $3.87 a pop, you could almost go broke buying a few drinks, not to mention all the receipts you might have to hide from your spouse!  There are also 52 grams of sugar in their grande Pumpkin Spice latte and that my friends is what I would call a boat load. I understand the desire to indulge once in a while but 52 grams of sugar in something you could easily down in less than 5 minutes is kind of silly. I’d rather just drink a plain coffee and then go have an ice cream cone. Obviously that would only happen on a day I ate a salad for dinner though! 😉

What is important to remember about Pumpkin Spice stuff is that it isn’t about the pumpkin, its about the spice. So no, there is NOT pumpkin in this recipe. Forgive me if I’m wrong but pumpkin puree in coffee just doesn’t sound appealing. The spice though… that is where it is at!

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Whole Wheat Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

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When the words “whole wheat chocolate cupcakes” come out of my mouth you are probably envisioning a dry, cardboard-like cupcake that was better left un-eaten. SO not the case here people! I would never suggest a dessert recipe that my family hasn’t thoroughly enjoyed, and these cupcakes are no exception. They are dark chocolate, moist, and have the creamiest cream cheese icing in the world that goes perfectly with the chocolate. This is my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe, and being whole wheat is just a bonus. No flavor is compromised here because if I’m eating the calories that come packed in a cupcake…. it better taste delicious!

I love a cupcake that tastes like it came straight from a high end bakery. One that uses whole, real ingredients and yields a product far superior to cake mixes and trans fat laden whipped topping. There is something so much tastier about a product that comes right out of your own oven, and looks beautiful! These babies are truly classic and satisfying. If your sweet tooth is over powering your brain take a few minutes out of your day and treat yourself, your family will love you for it! 😉


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My secret ingredient in these: coffee! Coffee is going to do two things in this recipe. 1) Give your cupcakes a “dark chocolate” flavor and 2) give your cupcakes a light, fluffy texture. I didn’t even tell my husband I put coffee in these and guess what? He didn’t know because you can’t taste the coffee. It is simply there as a flavor booster and acid. Acidity in baking makes things lighter and fluffier so it is always a good thing (just like the buttermilk in your pancakes). When I make cupcakes I always include something acidic for this reason.

My other secret ingredient: orange zest in the cream cheese icing. I learned this trick almost immediately in pastry school. I can vividly remember the day… we were making Danish. Our instructor presented us with the option of using a filling she made and when I tasted it I just about melted. It was one of the best fillings I had ever tasted! I just had to know what was in it and she filled me in. Zest, zest, zest! ZEST! Orange zest will kick up the flavor of a cream cheese icing and take it to a whole ‘nother level! I mean a whole ‘nother level you’ve never known before! You have got to zest them oranges baby because that is the key to the *in Oprah voice* best EEEEVVVVEEEERRRR cream cheese icing!!!! So gimmicky of me, yet so true. Please excuse my gimmicky food blogger talk… because… you know that’s not my style! 😉

 

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*Recipe measurements adapted from Death By Chocolate Cupcakes by Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Perfectly Sweetened Cold Brewed Coffee

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Coffee… one of my most loved things in the world!  I have been searching for the best iced coffee for a long time and by long time I mean a few years. I’ve had a Keurig, I have a Nespresso, I’ve tried numerous different roasts and blends but one thing I just couldn’t master was getting an iced coffee that was just like what I would get at Starbucks. Yes, I’m one of those people. The people who shamelessly admit to going to Starbuck’s frequently. The people who have a card, and an app, and know the drive-thru person. The people who know what month their seasonal drinks come back. Ok, now this is just getting embarrassing but I think you get the point… I love caffeine in iced coffee form preferably from Starbuck’s but without the huge price tag!


I admit, I felt kind of stupid when I realized I don’t need any pricey gadgets to get my perfect iced coffee. I don’t need pods that cost $1 each, or a fancy machine. All I need is a bag of course ground coffee, water, and a cheesecloth *insert sad face here for every penny I have spent on coffee* Yes, it is true… all I really needed in my quest to find the perfect iced coffee was course ground coffee, water, and a cheesecloth.

Right now, I need to publicly thank Ali Ebright from Gimme Some Oven for her Cold Brewed Coffee post. Thank You Ali for enlightening me on how to cold brew coffee. I never knew this was a thing until I saw this post on Pinterest. I don’t want to say it changed my life because… well.. real life changing events are marriages and births but this ranks somewhere slightly below those events. My husband also greatly thanks you for all the money I am now saving! If you want step-by-step pictures of exactly how to do this go check out Ali’s post because it’s pretty awesome.

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What really makes cold brewed coffee extra special is the fact that it is strong. Yes, that is the missing link when you try to brew coffee and then ice it. Unless you are doubling the amount of grounds you use, you probably don’t have a strong enough coffee. Pair that with trying to ice it, then the ice melting and you have the makings of a horrible cup of iced coffee. We have all been there, believe me I have too. My expectations are high only to be disappointed by a watered down mess. It is just NEVER…GOOD…ENOUGH when you know there is a deliciously strong and slightly sweetened (with a natural sweetener) cup of iced coffee out there somewhere. Here it is though, guess-work gone! I’ve posted a Caramel Vanilla Bean coffee syrup in the past, and I have taken the same concept and tailored it to this cold brewed coffee recipe to create the perfect iced coffee. The best part? Make this at the beginning of the week and enjoy it for a few days before you have to make more. This is really what I would consider a coffee concentrate, and you can enjoy many cups from just one brew! It is as simple as putting grounds and water in a container over night, then straining it in the morning. Once your coffee is strained you can make your simple syrup (which takes less than 5 minutes), pour it in the coffee and viola! Just like Starbucks!

I used coffee that I bought at Starbucks, the Kati-Kati blend. They only run this blend in the summer but with fall approaching their Anniversary Blend will be coming out and that is fabulous as well. Since you need course ground coffee to do this, the easiest thing to do is buy a bag of whole beans in one of their stores and they will ask you if you want it ground. All you have to say is course ground and they will know exactly what you are talking about. Alternatively grocery stores usually have grinders in their coffee isle so you can buy whatever blend you like and grind it there. The problem with a finer ground coffee is that it is really hard to strain out, and you are more likely to end up with grounds floating in your cup. I know not everyone has cheesecloths laying around but Target carries them in their kitchen section for about $2.83 or so. One package will last you a few brews.

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Ok, so now that I’ve officially embarrassed myself with all of my coffee talk and Starbucks knowledge here is the recipe. The recommended amount of sugar will give you a sweetness that still lets the taste of the coffee shine through.If you don’t like sweetened coffee, omit the simple syrup. If you like an iced coffee that is just barely sweetened I would cut the sugar amount in half. Although this isn’t super sweetened, it falls somewhere in the middle.

 

 

My First Canning Experience: Canning Peaches With Honey

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Canning Peaches with Honey is easier then you may think! In this post, I will go through everything you need to know and all the obstacles I faced during my first canning experience.

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This year I really wanted to try canning some fresh summer produce to enjoy through the winter, and to help me pack lunches for my son that I feel are nutritious. Last school year I felt myself sending the same few fruits the whole winter because there aren’t as many options in season during the winter. Eating in season has so many benefits, but my main motivator is that is it is much cheaper to eat produce that is in season because of the abundance at that time. Abundance = lower prices! When I saw peaches for 39 cents a piece, I HAD to bite the bullet and give it a try, so my husband and I went to Target and purchased the necessary equipment… and then I procrastinated!

Equipment I Used

Products from Amazon.com


As with anything I’m skeptical about, I waited. I waited, and waited, and waited. The peaches weren’t going anywhere, and they weren’t going bad either. I was scared! What If I screwed this up and wasted all of these beautiful peaches? A friend at church who has been in a canning frenzy lately told me this: it isn’t hard, it is just a process.

Being completely unfamiliar with the process, I was intimidated to say the least. I got a canning book and I read up about everything on the internet but every source explained things in a different way. Did I need to sterilize the jars? How much water did I need to put in the water bath? Would I be able to do this WITHOUT cups upon cups of sugar, as suggested by Ball? These are a few of the questions I had, but I worked my way through the process and guess what? It wasn’t as complicated as it sounds! peaches

My Obstacles

Let me just throw this out there, I have a SMALL kitchen, and by small I mean galley style in an apartment with about a square foot of working space. If you have more space (you almost have to) then this process will be a lot easier for you. I guess my biggest obstacle was space and timing, but that is essentially why I’m writing this. A lot of the directions tell you what you need to do but don’t necessarily say do all of these steps at the same time then go on to these steps at the same time.

My other obstacle was the amount of sugar that my Ball canning book suggested using. I just don’t understand the concept behind taking fresh produce and dumping mass amounts of refined sugar on it, so I did not follow Ball’s suggestion for the syrup. Even their honey based syrup was equal parts honey to water. I’m not judging here, don’t get me wrong. If you’ve canned with refined sugars and you are fine with that, then awesome! What works for you, works for you. But for me, I would never purchase sugar laden fruit cups at the grocery store so I sure won’t be canning sugar laden fruits at home.

Ball suggests using 20% sugar for their “extra-light syrup” which equals 5 1/2 cups of sugar and 6 cups of water. WHOA! Basically this is equal parts sugar to water, and this is the “extra-light”. Stated above the syrups chart, it says that you CAN can whole, halved, or sliced fruits in water. This let me know the sugar isn’t essential. I read a few times on various canning sites that sugar helps with browning so maybe that is why people use so much sugar. I was willing to take the chance that I might have a slight color change over using refined sugar. My solution was that I was just going to mix up my own syrup to taste using raw honey and water. I ended up using about a Tablespoon of honey per cup of water. To me this was actually pretty sweet. In comparison to Ball’s ratio, mine would be 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons honey to 6 cups of water. Ball’s suggestion for their honey syrup still contains a full cup of refined sugar + a cup of honey per 4 cups of water. To me this is still a ton of sugar even if you are substituting some of the refined sugar for honey! Overall, my syrup tasted just sweet enough for me and so far I haven’t had a ton of color change.

To recap, the solution I used and I’m suggesting is 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons of honey to 6 cups of water. I used about a cup of syrup per jar, so this would have given me about 6 pint jars filled with about 10 peaches

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The Steps I Used

As I mentioned before timing is essential. Somehow I timed everything perfectly but it kind of just happened that way. You will need all four burners of your stove to do this. I’m suggesting to get everything hot ahead of time so when your peaches are ready you can go, go, go!

  1. Start your syrup: Place your water and your honey in a pot and bring it to a simmer. Keep it hot, because you need hot syrup to pour over your peaches.
  2. Start your lids: Place your lids in a small saucepan and bring them to a simmer. Your lids also need to be hot when you put them on your cans. Having them already hot is a good idea because then you don’t even have to think about it later. Yes, you are doing this kind of early but it is better to have everything ready to go.
  3. Get your cans hot: You can do this by putting the water in your canning pot and using the rack with your cans upside down. The steam from the boiling water should make your cans hot, and sterilize them at the same time. You can leave the water boiling so your cans stay hot until you are ready to use them. It will take some time to get your water boiling, so this is why I’m suggesting to do this ahead of time.
  4. Peel your peaches: Bring a pot of water to a boil and submerge your peaches into the water. While your peaches are in the water, take a large colander and place it in the sink. Also take a large cutting board and get it ready to use. After about a minute take one peach out of the boiling water and run it under cold water. This is a test to make sure your peaches are ready to be peeled. If you take your thumb and try to push the skin to remove it and it moves, then they are ready and you can drain them and peel the rest. If not, return it back to the water and give them another 30 seconds to a minute. Your peaches should peel easily unless they are under ripe. Once you run them under cold water the skin should slide off with some help from you.
  5. Pit and slice your peaches: Cut along the “buttcrack” of the peach and it should separate perfectly with a little pressure. If it doesn’t separate, this might indicate that your peaches are not completely ripe, which isn’t a good thing if you are canning them. The center should be nice and red as well. You can slice your peaches or keep them in halves. I chose to slice mine.
  6. Fill your jars: At this point, everything will be set up perfectly for you to fill your jars with ease. Place your peaches in your jar leaving 1/2 inch headspace (according to Ball). Ladle hot syrup over peaches, again leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles using the rubber spatula tool included in your canning kit. Place hot lid on top of can using the magnetic lid grabber from your canning kit, and seal lid with hot ring. Set aside until you fill all of your jars, making sure each lid is on tightly.
  7. Process your jars: This is the easy part! You’ve set everything up, now you get to let some boiling water in your canning pot finish the job. Move your rack down to the bottom of your canning pot and make sure your jars are submerged at least 2/3 of the way up with water. Your jars should never touch the bottom of the pot. You may have to add additional water to your canning pot and that is fine. I had to, and I used a liquid measuring cup to add the additional water. Before you start your processing time your water has to be boiling! Bring your water to a boil then start your time and place the lid on your canning pot.
  8. Remove your jars and wait: After your processing time (25 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts according to Ball) remove your jars with the hot jar handler from your canning kit and set them to cool on a kitchen towel. This is the part that takes some patience, because of course you want to know if your jars sealed correctly right away. It does take quite some time for the jars to cool completely so leave them alone and walk away!

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How to Tell if Your Jars Sealed Correctly

This was the big question for me, did I do it correctly? Obviously, I had no idea of knowing how to tell if my jars were sealed correctly so I stumbled upon the website PickYourOwn.Org that had all of the information I needed to know. According to Pick Your Own here is How to Tell if Your Jars Are Sealed Correctly:

  • Your lid should not be able to spring back up at your when you press on the center. I knew my jars were sealed because the center was firm. I could not have moved it!
  • Lid should make a ringing sound when tapped with a metal spoon. If you tap your lid with a spoon and it sounds dull, your jars are not sealed correctly.
  • At eye level the middle of your lid should be curved down slightly. If your lid is flat or bulging in any way, your jar could possibly be unsealed.

There is a ton of other great information on Pick Your Own of what to do if your jars aren’t sealed, so check that out!

My Closing Thoughts

I thought it was going to be really hard.. heck I even procrastinated quite a bit. I might have never even done the canning had I not kept thinking my husband would be so mad at me if I wasted all of those peaches!! But after I was finished I realized I was my own worst enemy because IT WAS SO EASY! The most important part is really setting everything up ahead of time and making sure you have everything hot and ready to go. One of the first thing I learned in Pastry School were the words Mise en Place, which just means “Everything in It’s Place” and that is exactly what I recommend. Get everything in it’s place, then start. If you don’t have everything in it’s place, you will be thinking AHHHHH I don’t have the lids or AHHHH my jars aren’t ready. Again, I am NO expert, heck I wasn’t even planning on talking about these peaches here, but I thought why not? There are plenty of mom’s out there thinking canning is hard and I know now that it is super duper easy. The only thing I might have done different was I would have tried to put more peaches in each jar. After the fact it looked like I could have fit more, and I could have filled the jars a little bit more. I might have been over concerned with the 1/2 inch headspace, but hey… I sealed the jars and I’m happy about that.

Caramel and Vanilla Bean Coffee Syrup

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I’m just going to throw this out there… I love me some caramel and vanilla bean coffee syrup! Yes, I’m one of those “coffee people” and yes I have numerous coffee machines at my house. Generally I don’t put sugar in my coffee because I’ve realized that adding sugar is just a bad habit that I don’t want to get into. Yes, I do like coffee a little bit more with sugar but I just can’t justify drinking sugar on a daily basis.


Although I don’t drink sugary coffee drinks regularly, there are times I find a sweet coffee drink after dinner really delicious! I also know soooooo many people that have non-diary creamer at home and I absolutely LOATH that stuff! It is right up there with Cool-Whip on my “never ingesting again” list. Essentially non-dairy creamer will give you a healthy dose of trans fats, preservatives, GMO oils, and artificial flavors in your coffee. Thankfully, this DIY syrup is really easy to make, way more cost effective even with the use of a real vanilla bean, and uses a sugar that isn’t refined (Coconut Palm Sugar).

Here I go hand modeling again…. you know I’m just looking for a hand modeling contract… right? 😉

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With my background as a pastry chef I’m familiar with this little thing we like to call “simple syrup.” Basically it is just sugar water that can be flavored to put into cake layers to make them moister and tastier. When I realized coconut palm sugar tasted just like caramel in liquid form I knew it would make a great simple syrup. I don’t have any real use for simple syrup at home, but being a coffee lover I thought it would make a  tasty syrup to put into coffee when I wanted a sweet treat. I scored some vanilla beans for a great price at the grocery store, so it seemed natural to put a vanilla bean pod in the syrup to take it to the next level. The best part…. the ingredients are quality, real ingredients that are way more cost effective then buying non-dairy creamer or store bought coffee syrup (which also contain questionable ingredients).

I know you might be thinking has she lost her damn mind? Did she just suggest I put a real vanilla bean in coffee syrup? YES! Here’s the reason why… one vanilla bean is going to run you about $6-8. I only used about 1/4 of a bean in this recipe which will give you enough syrup to flavor about 4 drinks. If you used the whole entire bean and quadrupled the recipe you could get about 16 drinks out of the batch (1 Tbsp per serving). Here’s the thing though, you can use the bean more then once and still get a decent flavor from just throwing the scraped out pod into the container you are keeping your syrup in. I threw my scraped out pods into my glass jar, and I’m going to transfer it to the next batch I make. So essentially you could get about a month’s worth of flavoring out of just one bean. If you really wanted to stretch it, you could use even less in each batch because there are TONS of little beans in every pod. When I compare that $6 bean to all the flavored drinks one person could purchase at a high end coffee shop in a month or two, it makes the $6 seem like a really frugal choice. Yes, you’d still have to purchase the Coconut Palm Sugar which runs about $5 a bag, but even $11 doesn’t seem like such an investment when you look at the price of just 1 coffee from Starbuck’s (a grande iced coffee is $2.60). Plus, you will never get this kind of flavor from the syrups coffee shops and grocery stores sell!

 

 

Making the syrup only takes about 5 minutes. After you cook your syrup just transfer it to a glass jar, put a lid on it, and enjoy it everyday in your favorite coffee (or on occasion for a special treat). It doesn’t get more delicious then this rich, aromatic, flavorful syrup. I’m telling you, one whiff of this stuff and you will never look at bottled syrup at the grocery store again!

Thick and Creamy Cheeseburger Macaroni Soup

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Ok, I admit my husband was right on this one. Don’t expect that I’ll be singing his right-praises any time again soon, but this one was a homerun! No, it was a grand slam. But don’t ask me anything else about baseball because those are the only two terms I know so let’s just move on.

While I was slaving over a hot pot of soup my husband walked by and suggested I add some mustard. Like, for real. Sometimes he is the voice of reason, but I was skeptical about this one for a minute. Then I remembered this genius little pizza we used to make at a café I worked at and I thought maybe he was on to something. I reluctantly added a little and it was pure manly goodness. It was reminiscent of those two love birds ketchup and mustard coming together on one bun, and oozing out in some sort of orange goodness that only ketchup and mustard can produce. If you are totally salivating right now this one is for you! Now where’s the bacon!?!

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This is one of those dishes that just won’t go away. You think you are done but you just keep coming back for more until your day is officially a fat day now. You know, one of those days where you’ve eaten like a cow for the past 10 hours but your still considering a huge bowl of ice cream after the kids go to bed? Yeah, this may or may not induce a day of shameless eating because it is just so good and you can’t get away from it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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Some tips for this recipe… you may need to adjust the seasoning to taste. Also, if you prefer a thicker soup add 2 Tablespoons of flour at the end to thicken it up more. This will reduce the amount of broth you will have. This isn’t a super brothy recipe to begin with, so if you’d like it thinner I would suggest adding an additional cup of milk.

Vanilla and Fig Baked Oatmeal

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One thing I always hear people saying is they just don’t have time to make themselves a healthy breakfast every morning. If you are used to eating nothing (or something packaged) this recipe is for you! It takes just a few minutes to put together, and after you bake it you will have a healthy breakfast prepared for the rest of the week. I top this oatmeal with a mix of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, and pour a little milk over it while it is still hot. I cut it into little squares for my kids and they eat it with milk like regular cereal. This is a great alternative to boxed cereals for kids because it is real food with real ingredients and is not loaded with sugar like most of the boxed options.


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Homemade Hamburger Helper

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This Homemade Hamburger Helper takes a classic boxed item and turns it into a homemade favorite that the whole family will enjoy! Just a few simple ingredients will knock the boxed stuff right out of the ballpark. 

 


*This post was originally created in 2014. The next year I updated the images, and now in 2018 I’m revamping the whole post to reflect all the feedback I have gotten from readers who have tried the recipe.

Homemade hamburger Helper

First and foremost, this Homemade Hamburger Helper has kept PLA running since the beginning! This post is my first VIRAL recipe, the recipe that just would not quit. I felt the need to revamp it because my writing and photography skills have drastically increased since the time I created the post and I wanted my #1 post of all time to reflect how much I have grown.

I have to admit, I’m still making this recipe on a bi-weekly basis and my kids ask for it all the time. I NEVER have to worry if my kids will actually eat when I cook this Homemade Hamburger Helper. It is just a great recipe all around if you are cooking for a family!

Reader Reviews

If you scroll down to the comments, you’ll notice a lot of readers added additional garlic powder + onion salt to the recipe. By all means, have at it! I just made this again today to re-test the recipe, and I stand by what I initially posted. The recipe called for 1/4 tsp of each. I do add additional course kosher salt at the end as well so that really bumps up the flavor.  The recipe is super customizable! I would suggest if it is your first time making it to follow the recipe and then tweak it to suit your taste.

A couple other readers suggested they needed to add more liquid. This really depends upon what kind of pasta you are using. Today I used elbow macaroni and I did need to add an additional 1/2 cup of water.

Kitchen Essentials

I have been asked quite a few times what kitchen gear I use, specifically my pots and pans. I couldn’t find the exact set, but I do have a full Kitchen Aid set that my husband picked out all by himself. Scary, I know. But he did a great job and didn’t even go cheap, which is really surprising. 🙂 I wanted to share because I absolutely adore these pots and pans as they have cooked so many wonderful meals for my family. There isn’t a day in my home that they aren’t used!

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Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe

Kid Friendly Frozen Carrot Cake Pops

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There are 12 days of school left…. 12! There will soon be mad chaos in my household 24/7. We will be spending a ton of time outside and at the pool so I’m trying to come up with fun snack ideas for the kids that are quick. I’m also on a Ninja Masterprep kick because it is new so frozen pops seemed like an obvious option when I was thinking of ideas.


To be fair, this idea wasn’t all of my own. I did see a Pin floating around a while ago but noticed it contained some refined ingredients and moved on. After my “Apple Pie” Squooshi yesterday I realized cinnamon in smoothies tastes really good. I saw the carrots in the refrigerator and thought I’d give the carrot cake smoothie idea a whirl. When I tried it I was kind of amazed that I just made a carrot taste so good! The real test though, was having a tiny tester try it. There is a bit of “grit” from the carrot so I was concerned he would be turned off by that. To my surprise he ate all of his and asked for his brother’s!

Here is a link to the molds if you are interested, we use ours regularly and have been very happy with them.

 

Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

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chickensoup8 We invited some of our friends from church over so I decided to make a nice big pot of chicken noodle soup. I love this soup and make it often. I always think I will make extra and we will have a lot leftover to eat throughout the week but somehow it always disappears quickly! One thing I do not use in a soup like this is boxed chicken stock or bullion cubes. Although these products can make a soup taste good, they all contain MSG or some form of it (yeast extract, autolyzed yeast). I have not found a boxed product that does not contain these ingredients. Even stocks that are labeled as containing “No MSG” still contain the yeast extract and autolyzed yeast. I would stay away from these products especially because these companies are being deceitful about what is in their products, which is not the type of company I want to support. Not only is MSG linked to obesity, depression, eye damage, and fatigue, it also over-excites your brain cells and tells you that you want more.

This recipe does take some time to make, but 95% of that time is spent just simmering to create a tasty broth. I can put this on the stove and do a number of things before I go back to the soup for the next step. It is a great soup to make on a weekend when you cleaning the house or playing with the kiddos. I also use half regular potatoes, half sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes give the broth a hint of sweetness that sets this soup apart from any other chicken noodle soup you have had!


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